Blog

February 8, 2014

The first family we will visit this week is from Iraq. The father is 45 years old. He worked as a mechanical supervisor for the United States Military. His life was threatened because of his position with our military. The mother in this family is 39 years old. She is a homemaker who stayed home to care for their children. This couple has four beautiful children: two daughters (ages 13 and 1) and two sons (ages 10 and 7). The three older children have been attending school for two weeks, and they are very excited to learn English. The family feels that their new life in Arizona is safe and wonderful!

The second family we will visit came from Iraq to join a son who fled their country three years ago. His employment in the U.S. military put him at risk. He has opened his own business in Arizona was able to apply for his father, mother and two brothers to follow him. The father (56), mother (53) and one brother (24) arrived on January 9th. There is one last brother in Iraq who was denied entrance to the United States. The mother is very emotional because she misses that son. The father was an engineer in Iraq. The mother had a career as an elementary school principal, while the the son was a lawyer. They are happy to be united with family here, but miss their work and the family that remain in Iraq.

The third family is a family of six from Somalia. They all speak Somali, and have not learned English yet. The father is thirty-two years old and the mother is thirty. There are three daughters (ages 9, 5 and 1) and one son (age 3). The older girls like to color while the father and son like to play soccer. The family is friendly and energetic and they all try to communicate with visitors. We are certain that their interest in communicating in English will help them to learn the language pretty quickly, which will help with their adjustment to their new home